Susano Madril

Susano Madril was born in Duran, NM on June 17, 1917. He was the youngest of 3 sisters and 3 brothers.  His mother died when he was 1 1/2 years old.  He was  helping his father with his 30+ section (1section = 640 acres) ranch when he joined the the military.

09/1941  Susano, as part of 200th Coastal Artillery, arrived in 

the Philippines. Assigned to provide air defenses for 

Clark Field while based at Fort Stotsenburg.

12/8/1941- The invasion of the Philippines started, 

ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, troops were placed on half rations.

1/7/1942 - The battle of Bataan began and continued until April 9, when the USAFFE commander, Maj. Gen. Edward King, Jr., surrendered. During the Battle of Bataan, troops suffered from disease, hunger, wounds, and deaths.

4/9/1942 - Following the 3-month Battle of Bataan, American and Filipino forces surrender to the Japanese, beginning the Bataan Death March, which ended at Camp O’Donnell approximately 6 days later. They marched approximately 65 miles.  Between April and June approximately 1500 Americans died at Camp Donnell.

Susano said that the Japanese discovered that 3 men were officers so they took them behind a hill and shot them.  He also talked about how others were shot when they couldn’t go any further.

Between May and June 1942 -  Susano was shipped from Camp O’Donnell to the Cabanatuan Prison Camp.

He was so weak and sick that he couldn’t climb into the barracks, so he had to sleep under the barracks.  Catalino Madrid of the 200th CA got medicine for him and took care of him.  When Susano was better he had to do the same for the other men when they got sick.

10/1/1944 Susano remains in prison camps in the Philippines. During this time, he was in Cabanatuan Camp #1 - the hospital - part of the time, and also at “Philippine Military Prison Camp #10-D”. This is reflected in postcards sent beginning in December 1943 up to Sept 1944.  In response to American landings in Leyte, Susano was moved to Manila for transfer to Japan. (See attached postcards)

He remembers being thrilled when they would catch a rat to eat. He also remembered being beaten with a shovel if he could not work.

10/1/1944 In Manila, Susano boarded the Hokusen Maru hell ship for transfer to Toroku Camp, Taiwan, China via Hong Kong. He arrived in Taiwan 10/24/1944, but did not unload from the ship until 11/8/44.   He was on this ship for 39 days

He said the ships were not marked as POW ships. Hokusen Maru was attacked 2 times and was the only one of 4 ships in the convoy to arrive in Hong Kong. It stayed in the harbor for several days and had several air attacks while it was in harbor. The ship had been used to carry coal before the POW’s were put in the cargo hold. The men were packed in so tight that there was no room to move. The bathroom would be a bucket for all to share. They were given little to no water.  The ships were poorly ventilated, and temperatures could rise above 110 degrees. Many of the men went insane due to the conditions.

11/9/1944 Susano arrived at Toroku Camp, Taiwan China.

01/20/1945 Susano is transferred from Toroku Camp to Keelung, Taiwan.

01/24/1945 Susano is transferred to Japan on Enoshima Maru. Initial location in Japan is unclear. Some sources say “Osaka Chikko”, but camp rosters do not support this.

Susano said he was supposed to be on a ship leaving China to Japan.  They waited and put him on a ship the next day.  The first ship that went out was sunk by the US.  When the ship arrived in Japan in January temperatures were below freezing.

Susano said that he was in a group of 500 prisoners who were shipped to Japan to work in coal mines on the island of Kyushu, Fukuoka Province and was imprisoned at the Omuta POW camp. He put this in writing and told his niece about working in coal mines, though his name is not found on any Fukuoka prisoner rosters.

5/21/1945 Transfer to Nagoya Camp 9-B Jinzu Iwase. Prisoners in this camp worked primarily as dock workers. Susano remains there 

until rescue on Sept 5 1945.

He said they could see US planes flying over the camp.  When the guards realized the troops were ready to rescue the prisoners they abandoned the camp. They were too weak and sick to try to leave and they didn’t know where to go if they had left.  He remembered air drops of food and supplies over the camp.  Some of the supplies made it into  the camp.

He spent 40 months as a prisoner of war

Sept 1945 - returns to San Francisco on the USS Joseph Dickman. He spent several months in San Francisco.  Then went by train to Santa Fe NM where his dad picked him up to take  him home to Duran, NM.

He carried a paperback copy the the book 

“Give US This Day” with him.  He said it was 

the most accurate depiction he had ever read.  

He talked about being part of the events in the book.

Eyewitness account written by Pedro Tenorio.  Mr. Tenorio often mentioned to people in the Duran and Encino area that Susano saved his life in the  POW camps. Postcard - note that the card indicates that he was in good health. This is the same report on other cards in his collection. We now know otherwise.